Saturday, September 20, 2008

Laylat al-Qadr



Qur'an 97, 1-5)
In the name of God, the Benevolent, the Merciful.
1 Lo! We revealed it on the Night of Predestination.
2 Ah, what will convey unto thee what the Night of Power is!
3 The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.
4 The angels and the Spirit descend therein, by the permission of their Lord, with all decrees.
5 (The night is) Peace until the rising of the dawn.



Last Night was Laylat al-Qadr,Laylat al-Qadr is the anniversary of the night Muslims believe the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to Prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel (Jibril in Arabic). It is also the anniversary of the night in which the Qur'an is believed by Muslims to have been revealed in its entirety. The Laylat al -Qadr can also be known as the night of excellence.



The verses above regard the Night as better than one thousand months. The whole month of Ramadan is a period of spiritual training wherein believers devote much of their time to fasting, praying, recitating the Qur'an, remembering God, and giving charity. However because of the revealed importance of this night, Muslims strive harder in the last ten days of Ramadan since the Laylat al-Qadr could be one of the odd-numbered days in these last ten (the first, third, fifth, or seventh). Normally, Muslims would perform an i'tikaf in the mosque (i.e they remain in the mosque for the last ten days at a strech) for prayers and recitation.


For more information about this holy night , please click here.